The Calm Before The Storm (Feather)
by Immortalgothgirl
Summary: It's been a week since their kiss and neither girl knows how to process their feelings for the other. But Ethel is in for a rude awakening as her jealousy swells within her when the new girl takes a shine to Mildred...(Sequel to Unlaced, takes place one week later.)
1. Chapter 1

**The Calm Before the Storm (feather)**

Ethel perched her broom upright against a big hulking oak tree that towered so far up it blocked the sun. She inhaled sharply before walking through the twin iron gates that led into the cemetery, it was eerily silent, as graveyards were wont to be but Ethel was determined to _finally_ visit Esmeralda for the first time since the funeral before the start of this term.

She smoothed down the purple cloak fluttering behind her, the wind tugging it with such force that the gold wrought Hallow family crest that clasped it together began to dig into her throat. She slung the cloak over her arm the rest of the way, all the while delicately cradling the modest bouquet of white lilies close to her chest, shielding them from the brisk wind.

The closer Ethel got to the Hallow family plot, the harder she found it to put one foot in front of the other. _You're the reason she ended up here, the least you owe her is a visit._

A little iron fence painted white separated the Hallow's final dwellings from the public area of the graveyard. She swallowed hard and was almost startled at how loud and pronounced it sounded in a place where even the crows felt guilty for cawing.

"You never did like graveyards, did you?" Ethel laughed mirthlessly, shuddering as her fingers grazed her sister's headstone. "I don't blame you, you'd swear we lived in one, the atmosphere in our house."

Now more than ever that statement rang true. Ethel wasn't there when it happened, she was studying in the family library a few yards from the Manor and out of nowhere she'd heard the most horrific scream to peirce human ears. She'd gone outside to find out what all the commotion was about and that's when she saw her. With her eyes, she'd followed the open window at the top of the house and trailed all the way down to her sister's mangled corpse, bathed in a pool of blood.

The image threw her violently out of her ruminations."I should have noticed, I'm so sorry Esme. You deserved so much better." She laid the flowers on a slant, the little flowerpot was full already from the overly ostentatious floral arrangement that screamed Ursula Hallow in every way, a little note stuck out, Ethel noticed, and on it a line of loops and flicks, written in her mother's grand cursive hand.

 _'Sleep tight, darling._

 _Mother x'_

Ethel's tears fell fast and free, whispering ruefully, "God, I miss you so much, Esme."

* * *

Another cloud of smoggy black air marred the walls of the potion lab, for the third time that day. Through the chorus of coughing and hacking and gasping for that last lungful of uncontaminated air, Maud Spellbody could be seen at the helm of her group's bench, slouching into her cauldron. "Bollocks." She whined into her hands.

"HB's going to flip her shit!" Enid cackled from the row above, "This is what happens when you send Mildred to get the ingredients unsupervised." Maud peered over at Mildred, stood at the other end of the room by the herbs bench, idly fidgeting with a handful of Mandrake Root. She had a faraway look in her eyes, and when Maud thought on it, she'd realised she'd been looking at that same vacant gaze for the past few days.

"You alright, Millie?" Mildred didn't notice Maud creep up on her. She was surprisingly stealthy and light on her feet for a plump girl.

"Yeah...Yeah, I'm fine. It's just.." She began, but then she wondered why she cared so much about Ethel when the latter had gone to such extensive lengths to avoid her. Ethel hadn't so much as looked at her since the incident in her room, and that had been a week ago. "I was just wondering where Ethel was. I never saw her at breakfast either."

"You mean you don't know?" Felicity appeared over Maud's shoulder, "She got up really early this morning. She's gone to visit Esmeralda." She checked her watch, paying absolutely no attention to Mildred's retreat into deep state of contemplation. "She should be back any minute now."

* * *

Ethel was pensive as she rode her broomstick back to the school grounds. She allowed rippling of her cloak riding on the wind to be the one and only sound to accompany her back to the unbearable looks of pity and everyone speaking to her with a voice so soft it was as though she might shatter if the spoke any louder. And then there was Mildred.

Her feet hit the freshly cut grass with a soft thud. She hadn't spoken to Mildred since that day in her room, since her... _my_ g _rave miscalculation_ , Ethel told her self, _instructed_ herself. _I must have been under the influence of a spell of some sort._ If that were the case, the effects of such an enchantment would have surely worn off by now, and it had been a week, so why on earth did her stomach still flutter at the memory of Mildred's skin against hers?

She could feel the rush of blood heating up her face and quickened her pace. Her eyes were scrunched shut, trying desperately and failing miserably to exile the phantom touch of Mildred's lips against her from her memory, opening them only when she got up off the floor to scream at the idiot who'd just bumped into her. "Do you mi-"

"Sorry, babes." The girl muttered, not even doing Ethel the courtesy of looking at her whilst mumbling out a half-arsed apology and admiring herself in her pocket mirror.

 _Who are you calling babes?_ Ethel might have screeched, but the girl transferred away before she finished wiping grass off her cloak.

"Bitch." She said under her breath, and walked across the school field and back into class, all the while muttering to herself about the earful that rude bitch is in for if they were ever unfortunate enough to cross paths again...

...in about five minutes.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a soft knock at Miss Cackle's door, _the new girl,_ she remembered, "Do come in, dear." she said softly. The girl swaggered into the room and seated herself across from Ada. The nature of her arrival was most peculiar, Ada recalled. It was all very last minute, the emphasis of the transfer to be completed with 'the utmost urgency and minimal fuss' - as she saw when she referred to the documents she'd been given - placed upon the school by her family was...odd, to say the least.

The girl inclined her head, "Miss Cackle. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

 _She seems courteous enough_ , Ada concluded. She hadn't been issued a uniform yet. She let her raven black hair billow freely in the slight breeze that whistled through the open window, black locks falling perfectly against her black leather jacket.

"And I you. I must say, it was with great haste that your family were very keen to finalize your enrollment at Cackles." Ada smiled though she'd never felt more unsettled. This girl's family were well known in the witching world. Even in the ordinary world the atrocities committed by her ancestors were renowned, even if the girl herself lived in relative obscurity.

She did not want to pry, and something about the way the girl was sitting across from her, with a glint in her eyes, green as gleaming emeralds told Ada that silence, for the moment, was prudent.

"We are an impatient bunch, I'm afraid." The girl smiled an alluring smile, "However, my aunt had always had great things to say about Cackle's Academy. Even in Romania tales of this establishment are heard far and wide."

Ada, smiled, closed mouthed. "And how is the Countess?"

"She is well. Eager to hear of my progress at this..." The young girl's eyes flickered mundanely around the room, "...esteemed institution." She was being deliberately vague and the flattery was naught but a farce, Ada knew. The Countess of Wallachia was an imposing, austere figure in the witching community. Fortified against the scrutiny of even the Great Wizard, thrice his age and not a woman one would want to spurn. It was clear the girl was in no more of a hurry to slight her aunt than the Headmistress herself.

"I have every confidence that you will thrive under the guidance of Cackles Academy. Your first class is with Miss Hardbroom, I believe."

The young girl rose from the seat across from Ada, "Thank you for making this possible, Miss Cackle. I assure you my aunt will not forget this kindness. As you well know, an alliance with my family has many, many benefits."

 _Until it doesn't._ Ada wondered if the young lady intended for that last part to send a shiver down her spine. _She has the blood and backing of a clan of the Old Kingdoms, her family's influence could very well transcend that of His Greatness... to provoke her would be suicide, lest the wroth of the Wallachian nobility rain down on Cackle's Academy._

"You hail from an an old, ancient family, Miss..."

"Stormfeather. Violet Stormfeather. The family thought it best that I take my mother's maiden name for the duration of my...seclusion. You understand?"

"Of course." Miss Cackle smiled, again closed mouthed. "And you're joining us from?"

"St. Lexany's Academy, Miss." Violet replied, sounding as confident and entitled as she looked.

"I imagine it must be quite a change for you. Here we do things quite differently to St. Lexany's." Ada handed the girl a prospectus and a custard cream. The latter of which she politely declined.

"Of that I am glad, Miss Cackle." And for the first time since they'd met, Ada believed this to be the only genuine thing she had said.

"Let me show you to the Potions Lab, dear. Your new classmates await."

 _Aunty Ruxandra was right. The old bird doesn't know her head from her arse, Hardbroom won't be so easy to fool but it makes no matter, if they're even a fraction as gullible as her then this will be a piece of piss._ Violet thought ruinously, behind a smile formed to harness a beacon of innocence.

* * *

Mildred was busy shredding mugwort at alarming speed when Ethel entered the potions lab, the sadness behind her eyes and the anguish that dominated the features of her face were, it seemed to Mildred, evident, however no one else seemed to notice, or the more logical scenario being that they just didn't want to broach the subject, lest they appear disrespectful during the mourning period.

"Ethel..." Said Mildred sheepishly "How re you? I heard you went to visit Esmeralda today." She went to put her hand on Ethel's shoulder but hesitated at the last second.

"Yes I did. And I'm fine, thank you." Ethel said without making eye contact.

"Look, Ethel..I think we should-"

"Attention class!" Miss Hardbroom's voice was cold and stern as ice. "A great honor has been bestowed upon the academy, girls. For today, we welcome a scion of the old kingdom family of Stormfeather."

An excited chatter filled the room which Hecate made short work of eradicating. Everyone's head craned towards the door as the door opened with a screaming creak.

"Girls." Miss Cackle said breezily. "Allow me to introduce you to your newest classmate. Miss Violet Stormfeather, who is joining us from St. Lexany's Academy."

 _Shit,_ Ethel's insides convulsed. "I called Countess Ruxandra's niece a bitch?!" Ethel half whisper-half shouted.

"What?" Mildred turned and asked, setting her shredded mugwort aside.

"Um...nothing." Ethel lied, her eyes clashed with a pair she was unfamiliar with. Deep, hypnotizing emerald caverns that seemed to peer deep into her soul.

After Miss Cackle had departed, and indulged Miss Hardbroom in a most formal greeting, she all but glided over to Ethel's work bench. "Hello again, babes." She smiled happily, to which Ethel returned with a glare.

"Don't call me babe."

"Awwh, don't be like that. I'm sorry we bumped into each other."

"I'm sure" Ethel mumbled.

"What are you doing?" Violet asked innocently enough,

"Trying to ignore you and get on with my work." Ethel smiled back sarcastically. Violet seethed, being a member of the fabled Ishtar dynasty she was more or less treated like royalty in the witching community, no one had ever dared address her in such a manner before.

"Ignore her!" Violet heard someone shout from a few rows above, the girl the waved her hand, "You can work with us if you like!"

Violet was about to rebuff the girl. But she glanced at Ethel for the briefest of moments, she was staring. Staring at the girl next to the one who'd just signaled her.

She leaned in close and nudged Ethel as though they were the best of friends, "Hey, who's that?"

Ethel looked at Violet, then, to her horror she realised who had piqued her interest. "Um...well..her name's Mildred Hubble, but-"

But Violet had already bolted over to Enid and Mildred. And every time Mildred smiled at her or laughed at one of her shitty jokes Ethel felt a deep discomfort in the pit of her stomach. _Why do I care if she wants to go with Mildred?_ Ethel found herself wondering as she felt her rage fester with every stolen look at the two of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Ethel remained in a foul mood for the remainder of the lesson. Usually, she'd found, to her slight discomfort, the sound of Mildred's laughter and the sight of her illuminating smile filled her with a warmth the girl had very seldom felt.

But today it roused only ire. Not only her ire, the very apex of which was reserved for this Violet character, but another searing sensation she couldn't quite decipher.

But whatever it was, it made Ethel want to claw Violet's eyes out. _I don't care._ Ethel fumed at herself, _I don't care about her, or Mildred, or the way Mildred smiles at her with that stupid grin of hers, I don't -_

Nightstar pounced on Ethel's bed and lashed her in the face with her tail. "Thanks Nightstar, on top of everything else today I need my Familiar assaulting me."

Nightstar made a dry noise Ethel could've sworn was out of annoyance and no sooner had Ethel lifted her head off her pillow had Nightstar bounded out of the room.

"I suppose you've only gone and buggered off to see Violet as well then!" Ethel called after her, all the while hearing the soft tinkling of the bell on her collar fading down the corridor, leaving her with only a heavy silence for company.

* * *

Lunch time arrived quicker than Violet had expected. By that time there wasn't a soul in Cackle's Academy that had not uttered the name 'Violet Stormfeather.' A hush fell over the room as the girl entered, a piece of silverware clattered onto the stone floor over in the far corner of the hall, piercing the silence.

Miss Cackle cleared her throat, "Now girls, I imagine being the new girl is hard enough without being made to feel like an exhibition." _You'd know all about making an exhibition of yourself._ Violet barely suppressed a snort. When no one made a move to tear their eyes away from the foreign beauty Miss Cackle opened her mouth as if to speak again, only for Miss Hardbroom to intervene, her voice an icy hiss.

" _That,_ girls, is your cue to resume eating your meal."

The girls didn't have to be told twice.

 _And the sheep conform..._ Violet observed. It became obvious to her that Hecate Hardbroom was indeed the iron fist to Ada's velvet glove. She was a concern, admittedly. But nothing The Countess couldn't handle.

"Hey, Violet isn't it?"

"Hello, Mildred Hubble." She smiled coyly, "You're the cute one from potions class, right?" Mildred's cheeks were now tinged with a rosy pink, making them look plumper than the actually were, it was all Violet could do to resist the urge to turn around and flip the bird in triumph at Ethel, now silently seething a few tables down.

"Uhmm...do you umm...do you want to sit with us." Mildred offered behind her bashful smile, "There's plenty of room and Felicity is dying to interview you."

She extended her arm, inviting Mildred to loop her own around it and guide her to the table. Taking special care to make sure Ethel had seen her. In her rapidly increasing anger Ethel all but shredded the pork loin on her plate to pieces with naught but a butter knife and a fork lodged in the centre to keep it still, "Are...Are you alright Ethel?"

She looked up to meet the earnest gaze of Miss Drill, who arched her eyebrows as she often did when she was confused or concerned. Or both.

"I'm fine, Miss Drill. Honestly." Ethel slapped on a smile quick enough but it was the dubiousness of her voice that betrayed her and thus paved the way for an onslaught of questions from the over zealous PE teacher.

"Are you sure, Ethel? You are looking a little peaky. Has something happened?" _Someone, more like._ "Ethel?" Miss Drill waved her hand back and forth in front of Ethel, now peering vacantly into the distance.

"Oh, I see." Tilting her head ever so slightly to the left, at an angle from which she could comfortably see over her shoulder, Miss Drill smirked as Violet and Mildred had now entered her field of were seated together in a rather intimate fashion. Enid and Maud sat across from them chattering away, discussing something with rather animated expressions but to look at the other two, something dull pricked at her insides, she felt like she was intruding on a very private moment.

"Look Ethel, if you want to go over and talk to Violet, I'm sure she's a lovely girl underneath all that..." She twirled her hands around in a circle towards the general direction of the girl, a vague hand gesture she hadn't bothered elaborating on. "Anyway...I'm sure she could really use a friend right now-"

Ethel sprang up, her face crimson and her voice an unquenchable inferno of profanity and white hot rage and above all: _jealousy_ ,

"I THINK SHE'S DONE A PRETTY FUCKING GOOD JOB AT MAKING FRIENDS SO FAR, DON'T YOU?" It was only when she'd finished roaring out obscenities that she realised, at some point during her outburst she raised her arm, palm flat up, directed at Mildred.

From across the hall they met each other's eyes. Mildred, astonished, searched Ethel's eyes for an answer she wasn't even sure Ethel had, she saw only confusion and contempt.

Ethel, who quite happily - outburst notwithstanding- could have spent all day looking into Mildred's vibrant brown eyes. had a sheen of vapor that in mere seconds dispersed to bring forth an incensed Hecate Hardbroom not dispelled such intentions.

"Ethel Hallow. Miss Cackle's office. _Now"_

She clenched her eyes shut, still feeling Mildred's eyes bore into the back of her skull, _fuck._

 **AN:** **So very sorry to have delayed this update for as long as I have. I have recently started a new job which has left me unbelievably fatigued. The joys of retail, eh? Also I though my laptop was broken but it turns out it actually wasn't. I promise you won't have to wait as long for the next chapter!**

 **With Love,**

 **Immortalgothgirl**

 **xx**


	4. Chapter 4

Ada didn't even look up from her book when Ethel had been transferred in by Miss Hardbroom, "Here again, Miss Hallow? You'll be needing your own desk in here before long."

Ethel's eyes darted up to look at her,"Miss Cackle, it wasn't my fault."

The girl flinched when Hecate, looming over her shoulder fumed at her, "You were not _asked_ to speak, girl."

No, she wasn't. It was her flaring temper and glib tongue that had gotten her here in the first place. She wanted to scream and curse and cry until her throat was raw and her lungs were empty. In the end she found her silence just as deafening.

Ada breathed in deeply, "I know you're under a lot of pressure. For one so young to endure such pain..." She stopped herself when she saw Ethel tense up and avert her gaze. "Violet Stormfeather is... I don't need to tell you she's not someone you want to offend."

Emboldened all of a sudden, Ethel, again unbidden, spoke. "She doesn't frighten me, Miss Cackle. And neither do those savages she calls family either. Without her family name she is nothing, a broom without twigs."

"Then you are a fool. " Hecate's eyes glittered darkly. " _Yours is a vanity unmatched, Ethel Hallow._ Have you any idea-" Hecate almost had to clamp her tongue between her teeth to keep from saying something she ought not to. She exhaled and with it she let out a dry mirthless titter, "Of course you wouldn't, you're too young.."

Brooding in her armchair, her chin resting on the knuckles of her right hand, Ada Cackle's voice was like silk against the crackling and spitting of logs as the fire roared from the hearth, so much so that Ethel half relied on lip reading. "Ethel, did your grandmother ever tell you about The Red Reign?"

The words tasted black on Ada's lips, "Ruxandra Ishtar is many, many years old. And yet she does not look a day over fourty, Do you know why that is?"

She shook her head. "No." She didn't want to know.

"The Ishtars aren't just a family, they're a dynasty. The craft they practice has long been forsaken by the ages."

"Black magic." Hecate's voice was stone. Even Ada could not conceal the shiver that crawled down her spine. "Blood magic.."

"Miss Cackle." Ethel Cleared her throat, "Everyone knows about The Red Reign." It was true. Even in the non magical world The Red Reign was considered one of the most horrendous atrocities of the nineteenth century. Decades had been and gone yet there wasn't a soul in the witching world whose insides didn't churn at the mention of The Ishtars and their unnatural, barbaric inclinations.

Ethel continued, Ada's stare was pressing but curious. "My Grandmother never told me much, and my mother told me even less, but the little I do know is far more than I wish to, so if I could please just-"

Miss Hardbroom cut in sharply, slicing the air with an urgency that took Ethel, even Ada, aback. "You have _openly_ slighted a member of that family, girl! Do not make the mistake of thinking that there will not be severe repercussions if an apology is not issued _immediately."_

Ethel Hallow did not so much as blink. She turned her head from Miss Hardbroom to Miss Cackle. "May I leave now?"

The headmistress tilted her head, and Ethel Hallow made her descent back into the throng of wagging tongues.

* * *

"So, tell me about that _gargantuan_ sparkler that not so subtly sits on your finger?"

Violet blushed a little at Felicity's bluntness. The aftermath of the Hallow girl's spectacle had died down some, now she sat with her peers clustered around her while Felicity Foxglove sat across from her, lashing the air with question after question. The Item in question adorned her left middle finger. A fourteen karat ring crowned with a Sapphire that seemed to emit an ethereal glitter, haloed by little - but no less bright - studded diamonds.

"It was a gift." She smiled.

"From The Countess?

"No..it was from my father. Apparently my great great great grandfather had it made for his wife, and when she died he gave it to his eldest daughter, who then gave it to my grandfather to give to his wife. It was then passed down to my aunt, who the gave it to my father to propose to my mother with."

Without warning Felicity delicately clasped Violet's hand between hers and unabashedly admired the ring. "Woah.. Prince Constantin had amazing taste."

"Prince?!" Mildred almost choked on her potato.

"Ahh, yes..well...back in the seventeenth century my ancestor was King of Moldavia for a time."

Violet feigned a bashful smile, perfectly in tandem with a raised eyebrow as Maud, emerging from the dinner cue with Enid at her side appearing to have heard Mildred from the other end of the hall.

"Mil, do you know anything about Countess Ruxandra of Wallachia?"

"A little. I know about The Re-"

"WELL ANYWAY-" Maud cut her off, loudly and abruptly and not half so discreetly as she wanted to, "- Anyway...her younger brother is Prince Nikolai, Violet's father."

"You certainly know your history, Maud." Violet, impressed gave the girl a quiet, closed mouthed smile.

Mildred's mouth kept flapping open like a fish out of water "So, so that means you're a-"

"I'm not a princess, Mildred. Yes, all male issue in my family are granted the title of Prince. In Romania, I'm afraid even women of noble birth do not have that luxury."

"So what's it doing on your finger if it belongs to your mum?" She heard Mildred ask innocently, she was sitting to her left eyeing her with an inscrutable look on her face.

Violet leaned in close to her her and whispered in her ear. "Don't look so sad, I'm not engaged." Mildred felt her breath tickle the shell of her ear as she pulled away, winking.

She did eventually answer Mildred's question. "It was given to me when my parents separated." For a moment, a ripple of sadness reverberated throughout her entire body, the memory of her mother very nearly succeeding in reducing her to tears.

Out of nowhere, Violet lurched from her seat, "Will you take a walk with me Mildred? This place is like a bloody labyrinth." She let out a breathy chuckle and turned to Felicity, maglet still firmly in her hands, "I'd love to chat some more, Felicity, maybe we could catch up after school tomorrow?"

Felicity's answer was a swoon and a series of incoherent babble.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." She giggled as Mildred led her out of the Great Hall, "Thank you, Mildred. To tell you the truth...I...well since I've been here...no, never mind, it's silly."

"No, go on." Mildred squeezed the girl's forearm gently.

"Well..it's just...all that nastiness with that Hallow girl."

Unbidden, Mildred came to Ethel's defense in an instant, "She's not all bad...She's had a really tough time lately."

 _And now I reel her in._ "I know but...you...well...thank you for being so kind, you're like my very own Prince Charming." What Violet did next redefined the very notion of poor timing.

Light, urgent footsteps echoed off the walls and from the corner of her eye Violet saw Ethel draw nearer with each step. She couldn't help but notice how the echoes of those very same rhythmic footsteps had ceased, along with time itself, it seemed, when, with a wanton smirk she pressed her lips to Mildred's cheek.

 **AN: So very sorry I haven't updated for ages! Writer's block is a bitch! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Immortalgothgirl**

 **xx**


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